The Modi government on Monday appointed 33 new Joint Secretaries in the various departments and ministries. These are the first bureaucratic appointments made on a large-scale in the central administration after the parliamentary elections.
However, out of 33 new Joint Secretaries appointed, seven are from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), while four are from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).
The rest have been appointed from other services like the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, Indian Post and Telecommunication, Accounts and Finance Service and Indian Defence Accounts Service, among others, to bring in diversity in otherwise IAS-dominated middle level bureaucratic set up.
Officials from the Indian Civil Accounts Service, Indian Railway Personnel Service and Central Secretariat Services have also been selected for being Joint Secretaries in central ministries.
Some officers appointed on Monday were empanelled as Joint Secretaries in February during the previous Narendra Modi administration.
Among prominent appointments, Indian Revenue Services officer Sandip M. Pradhan has been appointed as Director General of Sports Authority of India.
He was earlier Chief of Sports Authority of Gujarat when PM Modi was Chief Minister in his home State.
Radhika Chawdhary from the Indian Railway Personnel Service and G. Jayanti from the Central Secretariat Service have been appointed as joint secretaries in the department of personnel and training. This is a nodal department for the All India Services.
Nazli Jafri Shayin, an IA&AS officer, has been posted as Joint Secretary in the Defence Ministry.
From the IAS, Gujarat cadre IAS officer D. Thara has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, considering her long experience in the urban development sector in Gujarat where she was Municipal Commissioner Ahmedabad and CEO of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA).
It may be noted that post of a Joint Secretary is considered crucial in any ministry as most of the policy related decisions are taken at JS level and most of the politicise are formulated by JS level officials.